Paradise Found
by Sherluis
Summary: After Luis' supposed betrayal, Sheridan plans an escape. But soon the lovers find themselves trapped together in a place that holds both beauty and danger.
1. Default Chapter

*** Your Title Here ***

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PARADISE FOUND - Prologue  
(Shuis|PG-13|Alternate Universe)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They'd spent the last two hours together in uncomfortable  
silence.

Luis had drifted off to sleep as Sheridan put down her  
magazine and closed her eyes. There were only a few hours  
left before they reached their joint destination, the one  
Sheridan _thought_ she was heading toward alone.

It was over a week since Luis had been unable to prove his  
faithfulness to her, unable to prove that some impostor had  
conspired with her family to split them up by faking his  
liaison with another woman. Sheridan couldn't take it  
anymore, the pain was too much to bear and she had to get  
away, somehow.

Guess the travel agent wasn't as discreet as I thought,  
Sheridan grumbled inwardly, edging a bit further away from  
her former fiance. How he found out about her plans, how he  
even got on the Crane personal jet she'd probably never know  
and he was smart enough to wait until they were up in the air  
before settling in beside her on the small private plane,  
nearly shocking her out of her seat with surprise.

Part of her debated storming the cabin and demanding the  
pilot turn back, or maybe even feigning illness and forcing  
them to land. But they were already over the ocean and by  
that time, it was far too late. 

Instead, she merely treated Luis to her own, special brand of  
Crane iciness, the silent treatment. He'd tried to talk, but  
after the second hour he gave and seemed content just to be  
beside her, even falling into a light doze, one that made him  
look so innocent and beautiful, Sheridan had to force her  
attention toward her magazine or be lost all together.

It was six more hours until they reached Tahiti, and the  
moment the plane landed she'd be free of him, come hell or  
high water. 

The pilot's voice came over the PA system. "We are at a  
cruising altitude of fifteen-thousand thousand feet and ..."

A shudder went through the plane, cutting off the pilot's  
words and Luis awoke with a start. Sheridan's eyes widened  
and she took a deep breath, reminding herself that turbulence  
was the motion of a plane being forced _up_, not down.

A heartwrenching plunge in altitude, and Sheridan gave a  
little shriek. Oh dear God, _that_ was no turbulence. 

"What the hell's going on?" Luis muttered, grabbing her hand. 

She didn't pull it away, instead she clutched him tightly as  
metal groaned all around them. "I ... don't know," she  
stammered, and screamed when a terrifying **BANG** exploded  
through the cabin. She buried her face against his shoulder  
and felt his arms go around her, comforting and protecting. 

A hazy curtain of smoke filled the air and Sheridan felt  
Luis pulling a fallen oxygen mask over her face, as outside  
one of the engines glowed brightly with flames. Her stomach  
leapt into her throat and she realized numbly they were in a  
nose dive. 

Again Luis' arms were around her and his voice was in her ear  
telling her how much he adored her, that she was the love of  
his life, that nothing mattered as long as they were  
together. Soft prayers in Spanish then, asking God to spare  
her, and Sheridan fought against the panic racing up her  
spine. 

They ducked together, leaning forward, bracing themselves for  
the inevitable and the last thing they heard was the sound of  
the plane hitting water, just before everything went black.

~*~*~*~*~*~  
continued in PARADISE FOUND  
Chapter One  
All reviews are welcome. :-D


	2. Chapter One - Landed

*** Your Title Here ***

**PARADISE FOUND  
Chapter One**  
*~*~*~*~*~*

Julian Crane grumbled when he heard the phone ring at the  
ungodly hour of three AM. He opened his eyes to peer at the  
woman lying next to him, as she tried to pretend she didn't  
hear the phone and was doing quite a bad job of it. 

With an exasperated snarl, he reached over and picked up the  
receiver. "Hello?" he answered grouchily, annoyed beyond all  
measure. To hell with Rebecca, _he_ was the one who needed  
his beauty rest, so this had better be something out of the  
ordinary. 

He wasn't disappointed. He listened to the voice on the other  
end of the phone and bolted upright in bed, horrified.  
"WHAT?" he cried, ignoring Rebecca's wide eyes. "What do you  
mean she never arrived? Why ... she should have been there  
hours ago!"

Another moment of garbled replies and Julian slammed down the  
phone in frustration. "Damn it to hell," he muttered,  
running a shaking hand over his face.

"Darling, what's wrong?" asked Rebecca fearfully.

"My sister, Sheridan. Her plane never arrived in Tahiti.  
It's missing." 

Julian swallowed hard, feeling for possibly the first time in  
life, frightened for his sister. There was little or no love  
lost between them, but in truth, the poor girl deserved  
better than to die in a plane crash. His eyes stung and he  
blinked away any ridiculous, errant tears that might have  
dared to fall. 

"Oh darling," said Rebecca, with a strange compassion,  
although Julian knew in his heart of hearts, it an act of  
Oscar-winning proportions. "How simply dreadful."

"Yes, it is dreadful," said Julian, snatching up his robe.  
He angrily slid into it and proceeded to head out the door.

Rebecca gaped at him. "But darling, where are you going?"

Julian shot her a withering look. "I'm going to find my  
sister. Whether you or my father or anyone else likes it or  
not."

A warm wind played over Luis face and he groaned. 

His head was pounding and he didn't dare open his eyes, no  
not yet. In his imagination things were quite bad, a limb  
here, the rest of him there, everything else broken to bits.  
Luis knew through his police training that pain wasn't  
necessarily a bad thing, especially when you took into  
account its alternative.

Finally, he squinted through one eye, surprised to see what  
looked like sunlight. Well, that's better than "The Light" he  
thought wryly, as a hacking cough racked his lungs. The taste  
of salt water on his tongue and he wondered where he was. It  
was far too warm to be anywhere near the US and the palm  
tress to his left indicated that the plane's navigation  
system had gone terribly wrong somewhere down the line. 

It was a miracle he wasn't dead, and his stomach lurched when  
he remembered that he hadn't been the only one on that plane.  
He sat up, ignoring the wrenching pain in his side.  
"Sheridan!" he cried. He spat a bit of sand out of his mouth  
and tried again. "SHERIDAN! Are you here? Is anyone here?  
Sheridan!"

Oh no. No, no ... dear God no. If he'd survived, she must  
have too. She'd been right next to him, in his arms, and he  
swore they were going to make it, somehow. She *must* be  
alive, she *had* to be.

Because if not, his being alive made no difference. 

If Sheridan was dead, he was going to die right along with  
her, no matter what.

Sheridan's head hurt. No wait, that was an understatement.  
Her head felt like it had been placed in a vice, kicked like  
a football, then shoved into a washing machine set on "spin"  
a few million times. 

No ... hold on ... it felt worse than that. Much worse.

Memories of the crash came floating back and she vaguely  
remembered the chill of water against her skin, the sensation  
of floating, and of Luis holding onto her, telling her they  
were going to make it and that she just had to hang on, hang  
on just one minute longer.

The minute had passed and Luis ... oh dear God, Luis. Oh  
please, please, don't let him be dead, she thought, rising  
and ignoring the pain that ripped through her skull, nearly  
causing her to fall. She staggered a step forward, then  
tripped over a large lump laying on the ground.

She fought to catch her balance and looked down, horrified to  
see the pilot's body, dead in the sand. A shriek caught in  
her throat, and she looked around wildly, panicking. "LUIS!"  
she screamed, her vocal cords feeling as if they'd been  
sanded. 

Oh, what if he were dead as well, she thought, as a terrible  
wave of guilt washed over her. What if Luis were dead and  
their last memories were of them fighting with one another?  
What if Luis had died thinking she no longer loved him when  
nothing further could have been from the truth? 

What if he thought he'd died truly and utterly alone?

She shook her head, sobbing. No love, you won't die alone.  
Never.

Because I'll be there, right along with you.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

continued in Chapter Two  
All reviews are welcome!


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